Your Future as an MCSE

I’m an MCSE who took [Windows] NT 4.0, NT 4.0 Enterprise,
and Windows 95 as my operating system core exams. Should
I take the NT 4.0 Workstation exam, then take the accelerated
exam to bring my certification up to date?
—Donald

One scenario I have not heard addressed is a recommendation
for NT 3.51 MCSEs. What do you suggest for us lucky souls?
—Bill

I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, because
I’m currently working on my MCSE [and] have taken three
tests and have three tests to go. I’ve worked very hard
to get to this spot, but do I start Windows 2000 or continue
and finish the NT 4.0 track?
—Angela

I’ve passed all of the NT 4.0 core exams and was planning
on taking the TCP/IP and IIS electives. Should I should
go ahead with my plan and later take the “update” exam
or switch tracks and complete the exams in the Windows
2000 track?
—Bob

Ah, another $64,000 (or whatever the going rate is for
MCSEs) question: Where do you want to go tomorrow? Where
should you go tomorrow? As usual, I’ll give the standard
systems person answer: It all depends.

What does it depend on? Lots of things. First, becoming
certified is simply a matter of time, effort, and expense.
How many of you are pursuing certification entirely on
your own, on your own time and at your own expense?

I know plenty of you are, but I believe the great majority
are either partly or completely subsidized by employers.
[According to our annual salary survey, about a third
of MCPs say that their employers pay for the costs of
certification. Another third pay for it themselves; the
remaining third split the cost with employers.—Ed.]
So whose decision is this, really? Yes, I know, metaphysically
we all choose our own destiny, but how many of you would
shell out your own money for the update classes, not to
mention the tests, as well as do all this on your own
time? Therefore, I’d say that your employer has a large
vote in your decision on this.

I’ll divide MCPs into three broad categories: independent
consultants, employees of end-user organizations, and
employees of consulting/vendor organizations. If you’re
a consulting/vendor employee, or an independent consultant
for that matter, a lot will depend on your local market
and job. Say you’re working with products that won’t be
based on Win2K, or with a client base that is “fiscally
conservative” (read: not about to upgrade anytime soon).
In those cases, you need to be aware of what’s new and
different in the new OS, but the certification effort
probably won’t pay off for a while.

If your firm’s emphasis is on big-enterprise, latest-and-greatest,
wave-of-the-future stuff, line up those Win2K classes
now. I’d give a similar answer if you work for an end-user
organization. If you know that management isn’t interested
in Win2K until the first comprehensive Service Pack is
released, you may have a while—quite a while. If, however,
your company is eagerly awaiting Win2K to move from a
NetWare 3.0 environment, I’m sure they’ll be interested
in updating your expertise. Also, if you’re eyeing a job
elsewhere, Win2K credentials may be a big sell or no sell
at all, depending on which profile the company fits.

Here’s my next point: If you’re an NT 4.0 MCSE, you’ve
got time. Your MCSE will expire, sure—but come on! Not
until the end of 2001. That’s 22-plus months from now.
Time enough to wait and see where the market goes before
making a move. If you decide that having the MCSE title
is still important to your career, go for it.

If you’re an MCSE who’s NT 3.51-certified, this still
applies, though with a slightly different timetable. You
lose your certification on June 30, 2001.

When I was a hiring manager, I looked at a lot of factors
in evaluating candidates. Yes, having a certification
carries weight, but experience, as Greg points out, counts
more. There are still a lot of organizations (banks, for
instance) that require a college degree, but they don’t
care what the degree is in (which is why, as a history
major, I started in banking, but that’s another story…).
What they care about is that you had the intelligence,
determination, and discipline to pursue a degree. Those
attributes often matter more than the specific knowledge.
On the other hand, some professions (say, rocket scientist)
have specific knowledge requirements. The same is true
in this discussion. A company that’s going to specialize
in facilitating Win2K upgrades will probably be looking
for Win2K-track MCSEs. An organization looking for great
troubleshooters or project leads should be seeking MCSEs
with a broad base of experience.

Finally, MCSEs aren’t members of such an exclusive club
as they used to be, and with increasing numbers comes
a certain dilution of value. Maybe you might want to look
at some additions or alternatives. Red Hat now has a certification
track for Linux. Cisco offers a number of certification
levels for networking. The point is, there are plenty
of valuable benchmarks out there. Decide what has value
to you and your career, either at your current employer
or your desired one, then pursue it.

About the Author

Steve Crandall, MCSE, is a principal of ChangeOverTime, a technology consulting firm in Cleveland, Ohio, that specializes in small business and non-profit organizations. He's also assistant professor of Information Technology
at Myers College and a contributing writer for Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine.